1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal, an image communication program, and an image communication method.
2. Related Background Art
Cell phones with videotelephony have already been put to practical use with increasing speed of wireless communications and with development of image compression technology. A cell phone of this type transmits a moving picture of an originator taken by a built-in camera, in real time to a cell phone of a recipient, and the cell phone of the recipient receives this moving picture to reproduce it sequentially. This permits the originator and recipient to carry on a telephone conversation while watching an image of each other's face.
The cell phones with videotelephony also include proposed ones with a function of transmitting image data made by likening the originator's face to a predetermined character (hereinafter referred to as a “character image”), in place of the actually taken originator's face image. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-009963 discloses a videotelephone configured to generate a character image based on a voice entered into a cell phone and to transmit it to a recipient's cell phone. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-176632 discloses a cell phone configured to also change a character image according to changes of expressions on the originator's face and to transmit the changing character image to a recipient's cell phone.